‘Not Enough to Make the NCAA Tournament’: Steve Lutz Is Aiming High This Season

STILLWATER — Steve Lutz is changing his tune this summer.

Although the Cowboys have yet to crack the NCAA Tournament field under his leadership, the Oklahoma State coach made it clear to the 2026-27 squad that his expectations will be even higher in his third season in Stillwater.

“I told them ‘it’s not enough to make the NCAA tournament,’” Lutz said. “I think we have enough talent in the room to win, and you know that’s kind of sticking your neck out and going out on a limb for a guy that won six games in the Big 12 last year, where I think we need to be fighting hopefully for a conference title, or at least be in the top, you know, 4,5, 6, in the league. Because that guarantees you that you’re probably a top 20 to 40 team in the country, and you give yourself an opportunity to win (and get) in the NCAA tournament and win some games.”

Getting into the field should be easier than ever this season, considering eight additional teams will make the field this time around, following expansion from 68 to 76 teams, which will pit six at-large teams versus other at-large squads and six automatic qualifiers versus other automatic qualifiers.

Of course, if everything goes the way Lutz hopes in the Big 12, Oklahoma State fans won’t have to get too invested in learning the new format ahead of the first weekend.

“I’m all for it, if they think that is what is going to be best for our game, then let’s do it,” Lutz said when asked about expansion. “I mean, selfishly, you know, if we had that field this past year, we were off by three teams, and we would have been in the NCAA tournament. I would love to be in the NCAA tournament, you know, you guys know that that’s my main concern, and that’s our standard here.”

On paper, this is the most talented group of Cowboys to play for Lutz.

The Cowboys added six portal prospects, including four four-star players, and rank 26th overall in the 247Sports portal rankings. OSU’s four-member freshman class also ranks seventh overall and second in the Big 12, behind only Kansas.

That’s a pretty big leap from previous offseasons.

“The biggest growth is, as I’ve said a couple times here today, is we’ve had more funds available for this year’s team, just plain and simple,” Lutz said. “I mean, we’ve been funded from an NIL standpoint in the bottom third of the league in years one and two, and we’ve improved that in this class, and that’s certainly helped us acquire more talent, and it’s helped us to acquire more pieces that fit us.”

Money came up often during Tuesday’s press conference as the Oklahoma State coach addressed the realities of building and retaining a roster in the current era of college athletics.

Although it’s too early for Lutz or his staff to know exactly what they have in this team yet, the head coach is confident he has a great option leading the way at point guard after Kanye Clary chose to return.

“I mean, Kanye has obviously got to be a huge factor for us,” Lutz said when asked about his four confirmed returners. “He’s got to be a steadying force every single day. … So I expect him to have a fantastic year. I expect him to be one of the better point guards in the country.”

After scoring double-digit points 12 times in his first 26 games as a Cowboy, with only three outings with 15-plus points, Clary had something of a breakout late. He hit double figures in seven of his final eight games and surpassed 15 points on four separate occasions, highlighted by a season-high 23 in an overtime win at UCF on March 3rd.

Clary also finished with 157 assists, putting him one shy of a spot on Oklahoma State’s top-10 list for single-season records.

His return could also help Oklahoma State take the next step with both funding and fan engagement.

“The thing that people usually, I don’t want to say complain about, but the thing that I hear from most fans, what they don’t like about the current landscape in college athletics, especially basketball, is that they don’t get to know the players,” Lutz said.

Not only is Clary remaining in Stillwater, he told his head coach in no uncertain terms why he wanted to stick around even if it meant missing out on a bigger financial windfall elsewhere. Lutz also seems to believe that motivation will result in a step up in performance from the point guard.

“Kanye was very intentional about returning and saying, ‘Hey, coach, like I know that other teams may be offering more money and trying to steal me, but if you’ll give me a fair offer, I want to stay here because I want to bring my kids back to Oklahoma State. I want this to be my university, I want to be a Cowboy.’ And that means something to him.”